Fakiru Week 2015
by Nanenna
Summary: Life continues in Kinkan, and a familiar couple is there to watch over it through the years. A collection of short tidbits of Fakir and Ahiru's life together after the story. Told out of order because Fakiru week prompts.
1. Anniversary

Disclaimer: I don't own these character, or else I wouldn't be posting this here.

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Every year on their wedding anniversary, Fakir gave Ahiru a bouquet of flowers. The first one was carnations: yellow, pink, and red. He explained the tradition of anniversary gifts, how there was a different flower for every year, and why he chose those colors for her. "Yellow because the color always reminds me of you, pink because it's your favorite color, and red because it was the color of love." Ahiru treasured that bouquet and proudly displayed it in a vase on the mantle until the flowers were well past wilting, save for three she dried and pressed to keep forever.

The same thing happened the next year, when he gave her a bouquet of lily of the valley, one spray was kept as a keepsake while the rest were kept on display in their home until the flowers were well past wilted. Every year the tradition repeated: Fakir gave Ahiru a beautiful bouquet as he explained which flower was for the anniversary, what it meant, why he chose those colors, and Ahiru treasured every bouquet well past its prime.

One year Ahiru thought she wasn't going to get a bouquet, Fakir had been in an accident and had to go into surgery a few days before their anniversary. He was still in the hospital recovering on the day of, but he was going to live and that's all that concerned her. Ahiru put on Fakir's favorite dress, a sky blue sundress he said was the color of her eyes and was not at all suited to the chilly, winter weather, packed a basket full of home made goodies, and went to spend the day with her husband in the hospital. When she entered the room she was surprised to see a vase full of violet and yellow irises with white rosebuds sprinkled in between sitting proudly on his bedside table. She nearly dropped her basket in surprise.

"Fakir! How did you...?"

"You didn't think I would forget," he responded to her half asked question, managing to sound chiding and disappointed despite his voice being so weak.

"Of course not, you would never forget," She replied, trying to hold back her tears of happiness. She pulled out a small, velvet case and handed it to him. "I haven't forgotten either." He opened the case to find a pair of silver cuff links. They sat and talked until a nurse came and declared visiting hours over, Ahiru promising to visit again the next day as she bid farewell, vase full of flowers tucked protectively into her arms.

This year he handed her a bouquet of yellow roses in full bloom sprinkled among dainty violets. Ahiru smiled as buried her face happily into the bouquet while Fakir explained: "I found there were actually two recommendations depending on who you asked, so I put in both. It seems silly for one anniversary to be specifically a yellow version of a previous anniversary flower, but I thought it'd look good with the violets. Roses, as you already know, speak of love. Violets speak of loyalty, devotion, and faithfulness."

"They're beautiful Fakir, thank you." They shared a kiss before Ahiru buried her face in the bouquet once more, enjoying their pretty scent.

"There is one more thing, I can't find any other anniversary guides for flowers. I won't have any traditions to tell you anymore."

"Then we'll just have to start our own traditions," Ahiru replied matter-of-factually, tucking the bouquet into the crook of her arm and taking Fakir's hand with her free hand.

Fakir smiled back at his wife, twining their fingers together as they sauntered hand in hand over a bridge that once pestered anyone who crossed it with endless questions. "We've always been rather good at making our own traditions," he agreed. Together they relived another tradition of theirs, taking a tour of the not so little town they had once saved.


	2. Hospital Room

The phone slipped from Ahiru's numb fingers, the impact muffled by the thick rug on the living room floor. Ahiru could hear a small, distant, vaguely tinny voice ask, "Are you there ma'am? Hello?" It took a moment for Ahiru to snap back to herself, quickly grabbing the phone's cord and pulling it up. She had just scolded little Charon for the same behavior not so long ago.

"Yes, I'm here. Is he okay? What happened?"

"I'm afraid I don't have the details, ma'am. I'm just calling to inform the next of kin, sorry to be the bearer of bad news."

"Thank you anyway, I'll be right down." Ahiru dropped the phone on its cradle without waiting for a response. She had to leave right away, she was half way to the door before she realized how silly that was. "No, I need my purse first." She turned and started hunting for her purse, was it in by the front door or had she left it in her bedroom? Finally, after a good fifteen minutes of back and forth, she managed to have her purse and house keys in hand, a winter coat on, and proper shoes for the walk. Fortunately the hospital wasn't far away.

It was an agonizingly long walk to the hospital, and even worse she wasn't even allowed to go see Fakir once she finally arrived. A sympathetic looking nurse came to meet her in the waiting room and sat Ahiru down to tell her all the details.

"Your husband was run over by a truck, it seems the driver lost control and ended up on the sidewalk." Ahiru gasped and sank into the chair the nurse had had her sit in, the nurse laid a gentle hand on the red head's shoulder and waited for her to respond before continuing.

"Is... is he hurt? Badly?" Ahiru stuttered over her words, unsure how to express her fear and her hope.

"He suffered several broken ribs, it looks like one may have punctured a lung, and several organs look to be crushed. He also has a broken arm, possibly in two or three places." Ahiru felt hot tears running down her cheeks, but she didn't take her eyes off the nurse's sympathetic face. "He needs surgery for the internal damage, and we need your consent before it can even be scheduled." The nurse held out a clipboard full of papers.

"Yes, of course!" Ahiru pulled out her purse, her hands shaking as she started digging through it. "I just need to find my pen..." The nurse held a fountain pen out to Ahiru, who took it with a murmured thank you. The nurse was very patient with her, pointing out where she needed to sign and explaining what the forms meant. Ahiru let the other woman's words wash over her in a numb silence. The nurse had to repeat a question twice before Ahiru started listening again, something she seemed to be doing a lot today. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"It will be quite a while before Mr. Ritter will be ready for visitors, do you have someplace to go?"

"I'm not going anywhere, I don't care how long I have to wait."

The nurse just nodded, "There's a restroom down that hallway, an eatery down stairs, and a phone at the reception desk should you need to call someone." 'A cab' was the nurse's unspoken 'someone' but Ahiru suddenly remembered that none of the children had been informed yet. Was Edelweiss at home now, wondering where her parents were?

"Yes, thank you, I do need to call someone. I should do that before it gets much later." The next twenty four hours were an ordeal for Ahiru, most of it was spent waiting around in the aptly named waiting room, Edelweiss soon joining her for the vigil. The rest were all away at university studying and couldn't come home on such short notice. They were on their way though, Raetsel and Hans had also been informed and were making arrangements to come visit. Little Charon would be home the quickest, just in time for their wedding anniversary. Ahiru sucked in a breath at the reminder, in a few days it would be their anniversary!

"Mama?" Edelweiss woke from a fitful nap to Ahiru's sobs. "Mama, what's wrong? Is there news about Papa?"

"No, it's just," she paused to attempt to clean up her tears, "it'll be our anniversary in oh... three days? What's today? I can't remember. I just... I haven't picked his gift up yet and I don't know how he can get me a bouquet this year and... and..." She broke down again, afraid to add that if the surgery doesn't go well it might well be their last anniversary. Edelweiss gathered her mother into her arms as Ahiru sobbed uncontrollably. "He'd better be okay, after everything we went through he better not let some overdone contraption come between us!"

"Shhh... shhhh... it'll be okay Mama, it'll be okay. Papa will be okay, you two are going to live happily ever after, just like in the stories." Of all things, that's what finally made Ahiru smile for the first time since the phone call.

It wasn't until very late the next evening that they finally got some definitive news. Edelweiss was about to try convincing her mother to go home and rest when a doctor flanked by two more nurses or doctors, Ahiru wasn't sure which, approached the woman and her daughter. "Mrs. Ritter?"

"Yes?" Ahiru stood, Edelweiss beside her stood as well and smoothed the creases from her clothes.

The doctor smiled before he started talking, "I have some good news for you." The relief was almost more than Ahiru could take, her knees wobbled dangerously but she refused to let them buckle. "The internal damage wasn't as bad as we feared, the surgery went well and he should be waking up from the anesthetics soon. One of you may have a short visit, if you'd like." Ahiru glanced briefly at her daughter, who made a shooing motion in response.

"I would very much like to see my husband, thank you." The doctor nodded and had one of the two who had come with him escort Ahiru to Fakir's room, they could discuss his recovery and medications later.

Ahiru was ushered into a brightly lit room, very sparse save for a cluster of machinery next to Fakir's hospital bed. He looked so gaunt and weak laying there, Ahiru would have started crying again if she hadn't already spent her tears. Instead she sat down in a conveniently placed chair and took his hand.

"Hello, darling. You don't know how much you've worried me this long while."

Fakir's eyes fluttered open, flitting vaguely about the room before landing on Ahiru, a weak smile lit up his face as Ahiru scooted closer. Everything _was_ going to be okay, and she was so grateful.


	3. Irresistible Weather

The grass tickled the back of Ahiru's neck, she would have moved to alleviate the annoyance but it didn't seem in spirit with the day she was having. Fakir was laying in the grass next to her, the shadows of nearby trees dancing over his face. Ahiru turned her head to look at him, squeezing his hand as he continued to talk. In truth she wasn't paying much attention to his words as he pointed at the sky with his free hand and continued speaking softly, something about the shapes of the clouds gently rolling past overhead. It wasn't important, she just liked listening to the deep tones of his voice as it rolled over her. Back at home there was a stack of dishes that needed washing and a pile of laundry that needed doing and a mound of homework that needed finishing, but that could wait until the evening.

"Ahiru, are you even listening to me?"

"To your voice," Ahiru stated immediately. "Maybe not so much your words," she added with a mischievous smile. She rolled closer to Fakir and curled into his side, still not relinquishing her grip on his hand. "Tell me more about the clouds."

Instead Fakir just laughed and kissed her forehead. "I'd rather talk about you, about what perfect eyes you have, the color of the sky right now. Or your sunset hair, or how every freckle is a tiny faerie kiss." Fakir booped Ahiru's nose, she giggled and squirmed, her eyes crossing to look at his finger on her nose.

"Every girl should have a Writer for a boyfriend, they're always so poetic."

"Should I write you a sonnet? I can make it in perfect iambic pentameter and praise your every feature until even Shakespeare himself thinks it's too much." 

"No, too much work. Go back to talking about the clouds." Ahiru shifted so her head rested on his shoulder, hands still firmly locked together. She lifted her free hand, and with pointer finger out, began tracing shapes in the clouds. "Like that one, see the long tendril coming off? A swan with her neck out."

"Mmm..." Fakir agreed, leaning his head against Ahiru's. "And that one over there is a rabbit, that bit's the fluffy tail."


	4. Crash Bang Boom

Fakir hefted Little Charon a little high on his shoulder, the little boy not even stirring from the movement. He had refused to be put down after his short bout of being lost in the crowd but had refused to leave the festival quite yet. He had been promised that at midnight there would be fireworks and had insisted they stay to watch them, never mind he had fallen asleep hours before they were scheduled.

It would be midnight soon, Fakir and Ahiru had moved to a small hill overlooking the lake where the fireworks were to be lit. They had laid out a blanket and were lounging on it while waiting for the grand show, wishing a happy new year to the other townsfolk who passed by. Soon all of Kinkan were gathered on the lake's shore, an excited hush fell over the crowd.

Someone, Ahiru was never sure who no matter what year it was, started the countdown. Ahiru happily joined, nudging Fakir until he laughing joined in. "Three, two, one... happy new year!" With a great shout the first firework went off, rising into the air on a scream and noisily exploding into a brilliant glitter.

Little Charon woke with a strangled shriek. He was disoriented at first, finding himself outside on a dark night instead of tucked safely into bed. He looked around wildly before realizing he was in Papa's arms, strange considering last he remembered he was in Mama's arms. There was another explosion and a flash of light, nearby a crowd was oohing and aahing. Papa was rubbing his back while Mama leaned in close.

"Ah, awake now? Look, the fireworks are going off." Mama pointed up into the night sky, Little Charon turned to see the last bits of glitter in the sky fade away, followed by another rocket lifting off and exploding. The little boy jumped in surprise, but soon grinned in delight at the light show. He pointed happily at the sky while Mama giggled along with him.

As the show continued, Ahiru and Fakir sat with their heads resting against each other while their little boy tiredly, but excited, laughed and screamed and jumped with every firework. All in all, it was a wonderful way to greet the new year.


	5. Happy New Year!

The air was just stuffed to overflowing that night, so full of chattering voices, playful music, bright lights, and the delicious smells wafting from roadside vendors that one had to wonder how something as insubstantial as air could hold it all. Fakir and Ahiru admired the festivities like an old friend who rarely visited while Little Charon, just this year old enough to go with his parents, stared about from between them in wonder. Big Charon, as Little Charon like to call the older man, was staying home with the baby so Little Charon could go with his parents. Little Charon didn't understand how Big Charon could willingly pass up such an exciting even as going to the New Year's Festival!

"Want to go up, little man?" Papa asked, Little Charon looked up at him with big eyes and simply nodded. "One, two, up!" Papa called, Mama giggled as she lifted in time with Papa. Little Charon clung to their hands tightly as they swung him back and forth, his favorite thing to do while they walked.

"Having fun, darling?" Mama asked as his feet touched the paving stones again.

"Yeah!" Little Charon nodded, then pointed excitedly at a stall with a game. "Can we play some games?"

"Sure, let's go play some of the games." The rest of the night was a whirlwind of fun the little boy was never going to fully recall. They played various festival games, watched several performers, and even stopped and bought dinner from some of the food stalls lined up on the streets. That's when the moment he would never forget happened. Little Charon's hands had been full of snacks and a prize he had won but refused to let Papa carry. Papa and Mama both had warned him to stay close, to not get lost in the crowd, but he had seen a juggler walking through the crowd and had given chase. Little Charon had never seen anyone juggle before and the clown was doing some amazing tricks.

Little Charon turned to ask Papa a question when he realized his parents weren't right next to him anymore. The boy turned and looked around frantically, they were in town and he had been outside lots and lots, he should know where he is. But everywhere he looked he only saw a forest of shins and knees, too many people to tell where he was, too many festival decorations and temporary stalls made the town unfamiliar anyway. Great big tears welled up in his eyes, but Little Charon valiantly tried to blink them away. He was five and a half years old, practically all grown up! And big boys don't cry. They just don't. Alas, his efforts were in vain, the tears spilled from his eyes as a great sob heaved from him. Unable to hold the tears back, he let loose a wail as he held one chubby fist up to a streaming eye.

"Here you are, and you had us worried." Mama's were around him, picking him up and holding her to his chest. Someone was petting his hair, probably Papa. Little Charon was so relieved he couldn't stop himself from giving another sobbing wail.

"There, there, little man. You're safe now, it's all okay." It was Papa petting his hair, and they were both smiling at him. Little Charon smiled back, then wrapped his arms around Mama's neck, teddy bear and all. Papa pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the tears from Little Charon's face. "See, everything is okay. Feeling better now."

Little Charon nodded, then gave a bright little grin. "There was a clown throwing balls in the air, it was really cool. Can we go see him, Papa?"

Papa laughed and ruffled Little Charon's hair. "Sure, let's go find the juggling clown." Papa put an arm around Mama's shoulder and together the three of them walked off into the festival.


	6. Best Day Ever

Fakir stood ramrod straight, staring down the aisle towards the building's large double doors. His Future was slowly walking towards him and he found himself caught somewhere between overwhelming pride and happiness, and overpowering anxiety and nervousness. Mytho briefly touched his hand and whispered, "Breath." Fakir hadn't realized he had stopped until then, he sucked in a deep breath as quietly as possible.

Ahiru was stunning in her dress as Charon led her slowly towards him, then her eyes met his and Fakir felt his heart flutter as she flashed him one of her bright smiles. Fakir couldn't help smiling back, here was his Future heading towards him and he couldn't think of a single moment in his whole life he was ever happier. He hoped Ahiru felt the same. If her bright smile and all the planning and fuss that had gone into getting this far was any indication, he was sure she did.

All too soon and also not soon enough, Charon was handing Ahiru over to him and there was a distant rustle as the gathered crowd did... something. Fakir didn't know or care what the others were doing, he had taken both of Ahiru's hands in his as they stood facing each other, both smiling happily. Someone nearby started speaking, "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today..." Fakir didn't pay attention to the rest, he knew why they were here today and it was because of the lovely young woman standing before him. Today he was fulfilling and old promise, or rather he was continuing the promise he had kept so far. A promise he intended to keep fulfilling for the rest of his life. Right this moment his Future was shining so brightly and he couldn't wait to live it.

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Sorry this one ended up so short, but there's only so much you can write about a wedding before it's just the same old same old all over again. I was going to do a pregnancy one, but that would have been even shorter. I do love writing these fluffy little pieces though, I hope everyone's having a good Fakiru week so far. Last day's almost here!


	7. Partners in Crime

Ahiru struggled to repress her giggles, crouching in the shrubbery next to the wall while Fakir was crouching just next to her, peering around the corner. Fakir was trying to keep quiet too, Ahiru could tell by the way his shoulders shivered and how red the tips of his ears were. The Writer seemed to think the coast was clear, with barely a wave to bring Ahiru along he slipped around the corner. The young ballerina scrambled to keep up, all while desperately trying to not attract any attention.

The pair kept low as they scooted to the door, Fakir eased it open and slipped in. Ahiru followed quickly, making sure to ease the door shut behind her. They kept low to the floor, sneaking down the hallway even though no one was supposed to be in the building right now and that they'd be less suspicious if they walked normally. It was all Ahiru could do to keep the giggles in.

Fakir stopped next to a door, seeming to consider it for a moment. "Is this the right room?" Ahiru whispered, unable to stop the giggles this time.

"I'm not sure, I think it is. Let's peek inside." Fakir eased the door open and peeked through the crack, Ahiru curiously peeked in as well, moonlight lanced through the mostly closed curtain and a streak of pale light lit up an empty room. Ahiru thought she saw some chairs and music stands in the back, but it was hard to tell with the light. "Must not be." Fakir eased the door shut, Ahiru just nodded before they started sneaking down the hall again. After two more false rooms they returned to the first one and scurried across the hallway opened the door directly across. This time they found it, the room was very dim but the center was taken up by a shadowy bulk that could only be a baby grand piano. Well, Ahiru had been told it was a baby grand piano in the past, she still wasn't sure what the difference was.

The pair slipped quietly into the room and began setting up. Ahiru pulled some clothes pins from her pocket and started putting them on the piano strings while Fakir set up what seemed to be an elaborate trap. Once Ahiru finished she moved over to Fakir and tapped him on the shoulder, giving him a thumbs up. Fakir nodded and pointed to the door, indicating that Ahiru should get out while he set up the finishing touches on his set up.

Ahiru stood just next to the door to the practice room, excitedly bouncing on her heels as she waited for Fakir. Shortly he eased his way out of the room, carefully keeping his hand up to the side of the door for some reason before very carefully shutting it. Then their eyes met and both dissolved into repressed laughter, Ahiru's chest was starting to hurt from keeping it all in.

"Sh-sh-shhh-sh..." Fakir's attempts to shush Ahiru were interrupted by his own laughter, after a moment they calmed down enough to crouch down again and sneak out of the music building. Ahiru was still sad they wouldn't be there to see the prank go down, but she was sure they'd hear all about it later.

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The next afternoon Ahiru went to the library to return a book she had borrowed, then went to browse the stacks. She had to go pretty far into the back, in a musty section that was seldom used, before she found Autor. He seemed in a pretty sour mood, Ahiru could swear the room felt colder near him. Well, she wasn't about to let one of her friends be in a sour mood! "Hi Autor, how're you today?"

"Awful! Someone decided to play a prank on my in the practice room."

"Oh no, really?" It took all of Ahiru's self control not to burst into giggles all over again.

"Yes, someone laid a trap across the door so I got caught on my way into the room. Then when I sat down to practice I discovered the piano was out of tune, imagine my surprise when I find a bunch of clothes pins attached to the strings!" Ahiru tried not to imagine his surprise, she wasn't sure she could keep a straight face if she did.

"That does sound pretty bad, hopefully that was the end of it."

"Someone set up a jack-in-the-box in my locker so it sprung out when I opened it, there was a whoopie cushion on my seat in class, and I found more clothes pins on the piano strings in the practice room after class. Someone really has it out for me today." Ahiru choked back a surprised guffaw, it seems someone else had decided to play pranks on the music student too.

"Th-that's just awful! I'm s-so sorry to-to hear that!" Ahiru was having trouble suppressing the giggles now, instead she bid a hasty farewell and ran for it.

Later Ahiru found Fakir outside the ballet practice rooms. "Fakir! Did you hear?"

"Yeah, uh... that may have been my fault. I may or may not have told Chihuajuan about the pranks you and I were going to pull on Autor and uh... some other students thought it'd be fun to as well." Fakir looked completely embarrassed, their little prank had certainly gotten out of control.

"I'm worried he's going to find more pranks tomorrow, I told Piqué and Lillié about what we did last night."

Fakir just nodded. After a moment of contemplation he added, "It's too bad though, I would have loved to have been there for the locker jack-in-the-box." Both teens laughed uncontrollably then.

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And that's it for Fakiru week 2015, I hope everyone had as much fun this year as I did!

This particular entry may seem a bit ooc, but I figured the series itself took place freshman year at high school and this story takes place senior year, after Fakir has had some time to relax and get used to a life that didn't leave him in a constant near panic and also that Ahiru would help him learn to chill a bit. Why wouldn't someone who's put a burden on their own shoulders their whole life who is suddenly free and able to actually be a child become a bit mischievous?


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